The proposed plan advances the candidate's long-term goal of implementing psychosocial interventions as adjunctive treatment to pharmacotherapy with the goal of reducing medication burden for youth with mood disorders. This award is specifically focused on youth with severe mood dysregulation (SMD). Career development activities include developing expertise in: 1) the diagnostic assessment of youth with SMD and other mood disorders;2) biostatistics for the analysis of clinical trial data;3) intervention study design development and implementation;4) Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents (IPT-A) and relevant adaptations. For the proposed study, IPT-A will be adapted for youth with SMD (IPT-SMD). After conducting 5 pilot cases, the candidate will carry out the main study wherein youth with SMD will be randomized to treatment with IPT-SMD or treatment as usual (TAU). At week 10, those youth with a 30% improvement in BPRS-C scores will be slowly tapered off antipsychotic medication. Youth will be followed for 24 weeks. The overall goal of the proposed award is to prepare the candidate for a successful submission of an application measuring the efficacy of IPT-SMD in a larger randomized controlled trial. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Project Narrative This study has the potential to improve the overall functioning of youth with severe mood dysregulation through improving their interpersonal relationships. Additionally, there may be a reduction in morbidity from certain psychotropic medications that are prescribed for these youth.